A daycare must-read

If you have children in daycare or wonder how daycare is regulated in Georgia, today's AJC has an eye-opening report on how a menu of special exemptions allows a great variety of childcare providers to bypass the licensing process. The article includes disturbing vignettes of how one business owner felt "smart" in finding a suitable loophole and how another point-blank lied to AJC reporter Tim Eberly about part-owning a childcare business that handled its revoked exempt status by reopening under a new name.

The problem: childcare providers that strategically avoid meeting the definition of a "traditional" daycare program may be approved for a waiver that exempts them from basic due diligence such as running a background check on employees. It also exempts them from following best practices required for traditional daycares, which are extensive and outlined for various program types within the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) website as well as on DECAL's Rules and Regulations page.